person innocent. However, the guilty party never
returned alive. Another famous cave in the Igbo
area is the Arochukwu Cave, which has become a
major tourist attraction. This cave has a special
formation that is apparently made of some form
of metal through which the chief priest is able to
speak to the people.
Other Functions of CavesObviously, the main uses of caves were for shelter
and protection. For example, in southern Africa,
the Mpumalanga people were able to use the mag-
nificent Echo Caves to warn of the approach of
the Swazi army and to hide themselves in the far
reaches of the caves. The caves extend more than
40 kilometers, and when the Mpumalanga struck
a special stalactite, it made a sound louder than
any drum. When it was sounded, the people knew
to take refuge in the cave.
Other caves are found in Cameroon, Algeria,
Niger, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and several
other African nations. The continent seems to be
punctured by numerous caves, some quite deep
and long, and others rather shallow, being nothing
more than rock cliff shelters that have been carved
out of rock through erosion. The Domboshowa
Cave in Zimbabwe is famous for its rock paint-
ings, but there are other caves in this country that
are famous for evidence of some of the earliest
mining in the world.
The Ndorobo people of Western Kenya have
always considered the caves of Chepkitale Forest
more suitable for living than the agricultural
lands at the foot of Mount Elgon. Conflicts with
the government and other clans over land and
resources have forced the Ndorobo to choose
their original homeland over the land given to
them by the Kenyan government. The Ndorobo
are related to the Soy and form the seminomadic
group called Sabaot. But when the Ndorobo lived
in the highlands and the Soy in the lowlands, they
had community peace; but when the Kenyan gov-
ernment made their area a natural preserve and
forced them away from the highlands and the
caves, the Ndorobo believed they had lost contact
with their ancestors.
Clearly, the use of caves in African history and
culture is not limited to one function. In some
cases, people have used the caves as hideouts
where they could go to escape their enemies; in
other cases, the cave has been seen as a sacred
land, a special place, where the eye or the voice of
a powerful deity could be seen or felt. Still other
people have used the peculiar rock formations as
drums to warn their people of impending danger.
Ceremonies have taken place in some caves where
Africans make contact with ancestors who are
said to have come from inside the Earth. Caves in
Africa have been the venues for all types of human
behaviors. The cave, just as the river, the moun-
tain, the forest, or the lake, is a powerful space for
the union of people and the deity. It remains alive,
historic, distant, close, and mysterious all at once.Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoClay; Earth; RitualsFurther Readings
Asante, M. K. (2007).The History of Africa. London:
Routledge.
Balandier, G., & Maquet, J. (1974).Dictionary of Black
African Civilization. New York: Amiel.
Parrinde, G. (1954).African Traditional Religion.
London: Hutchinson University Library.CEREMONIES
Ceremonies are special occasions that mark par-
ticular social, religious, or historical moments in
a society’s experience. In Africa, ceremonies play
an important role in every aspect of a people’s
social life. One finds that ceremonies inaugurate
an infant’s entry into life, and from that moment
forward the individual as a part of a group is
moved from one ceremony to another in the
communal experience.
There are three types of ceremonies: transi-
tions,officials, and cultural. All of these cere-
monies are infused with religious content. In the
case of transitions, the individual is a special par-
ticipant or observer in the collective recognition
of birth, marriage, or death. When a child is born
in African societies, the time must be marked byCeremonies 155